New Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral

In a region dominated my mega-churches built into malls, warehouses, and sports arenas the new Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral goes a more modern yet still traditional route. The long-anticipated building phase got underway in early 2005 several years after plans were announced, and a lot cleared next door to the existing Sacred Heart for the new church. For years people drove by the brown patch surrounded by chain-link fence and wondered if the project would ever get off the ground.

Because of its location and its stature, the new Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral is a downtown landmark. It faces the Pierce Elevated freeway with a green dome 117-feet above the surface street, and is punctuated by a 140-foot-tall belltower.

The new building features a classic design with a free-standing bell tower reminiscent of cathedrals of Italy. It can hold over 18-hundred parishioners underneath its vaulted ceiling and metal dome. The cathedral is something of an anomaly among Catholic construction. Places like Houston and Los Angeles are able to build more and larger churches to help accommodate an influx of the faithful from Mexico. At the same time, churches in other parts of the country are being consolidated or abandoned as people seek a more secular life.

But like so many secular buildings in Houston, the old must make way for the new. The current Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral is slated for demolition once the new one opens. That has brought mixed feelings to those who frequent it. They know it is run down and not adequate for the parish's needs, but it is their spiritual home, and any time you lose a piece of your history you lose a piece of yourself.